MORNING MESSAGE
The
People’s Budget vote will tell us which Democrats keep themselves trapped in the
constraints of a conservative/corporate establishment that might tolerate
palliatives for ease the pain of our economic sickness but rejects the surgery
that would cure it, and the Democrats willing to break the restraints and reach
for solutions that match the severity of America’s problems – and the
possibilities of a much better future for working people. (PLUS: Terrance Heath
on "Five
Ways The GOP Budget Will Harm American Families.")
House Votes Budget Today
House
GOP leadership expects to pass budget today. The Hill: “GOP leaders believe
the House will eventually back the amended version of the Price budget, which
would increase a Pentagon war fund to $96 billion and require no offsets … Under
the procedure set up by House leaders, the budget that receives the most votes
will be considered the adopted version. If multiple budgets tie for the most
votes, the version that is voted on last will win. The amended Price budget is
scheduled to get that last vote…”
Conservative
faction indicates support for leadership budget. Politico: “‘We’re not the
caucus of no. We’re a group trying to get to yes,’ said Rep. Matt Salmon … It
remains to be seen if the group can support leadership when spending bills move
this fall, some of which will need to include concessions to the White House and
Senate Democrats to be enacted.”
National
parks are underfunded and falling into “disrepair.” Mother Jones: “National
parks and historic sites need almost $12 billion in upkeep—or about four times
the National Parks Service’s annual budget … The NPS is urging Congress to fund
its 2016 budget requests of $248.2 million for high-priority repairs and $300
million over three years for longer-term projects. And that’s just the start.
For roads and transportation projects, NPS is hoping for $150 million in Obama’s
proposed transportation bill.”
Senate Sifts Through Budget Amendments
Republicans
block amendment to protect Social Security. W. Post “An amendment offered by
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) would have mandated a 60-vote supermajority to pass any
spending bill cutting Social Security benefits. Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.),
Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) — all potential GOP presidential
contenders — voted against the amendment, while Kirk was joined by five other
Republicans in supporting it. It fell nine votes short of the 60 necessary for
adoption.”
The
Hill’s Markos Moulitsas argues that progressive have the upper hand on Social
Security: “For the first time, Democrats aren’t on the defensive on Social
Security. This is no longer about preventing cuts, or staving off Republican
austerity … we finally have a Democratic Party with a positive agenda for
bolstering the bottom line for retirement security.”
GOP
blocks infrastructure amendment. USA Today: “The Senate voted Tuesday to
reject a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that would have created
millions of infrastructure jobs and closed an ‘absurd’ tax loophole to pay for
the plan … The tax loopholes targeted by Sanders’ amendment let corporations and
wealthy Americans shift jobs and profits overseas…”
Mayors,
not governors, lead infrastructure push. The Atlantic: “…the U.S. Conference
of Mayors launched what it says will be the largest coordinated campaign by
mayors in some time, pushing Congress to reauthorize the surface-transportation
bill … only seven of the 35 biggest American cities have Republican mayors.
Meanwhile, Republicans increasingly dominate at the state level, controlling 31
governorships … [So] mayors, rather than governors [are taking] over the
dominant role in pushing for transportation spending …”
Senate
to vote on budget amendment targeting EPA climate regs. The Hill: “Senate
Republicans are proposing a budget amendment that would let states opt out of
the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) controversial climate rule for power
plants.”
Reid
not on board with Boehner-Pelosi “doc fix” deal. THe Hill: “‘I personally am
going to wait until we see it having passed the House before we start
speculating what we need to do with it, if anything,’ Reid told a pack of
reporters. Senate Democrats [object] that the package would only extend the
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years instead of four. But it
is abortion and a two-year extension of federal funding under ObamaCare for
community health centers that appear to be the biggest sticking points.”
Breakfast Sides
The
Nation magazine publishes 150th anniversary issue, featuring contribution from
CAF’s Robert Borosage. Editor Katrina vanden Heuvel: “Our very first issue
described ‘the conflict of the ages, the great strife between the few and the
many, between privilege and equality, between law and power, between opinion and
the sword.’ This anniversary issue is a record of the last 150 years of that
conflict—and as long as The Nation is around, that fight will go on.”
WH
launches paid leave campaign. W. Post: “Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez and
White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett will travel to several states this
spring to promote paid-leave policies, showing the extent to which the Obama
administration is working outside the Beltway to achieve its policy goals … The
push for paid leave has gathered momentum across the country, though it tends to
be in Democratic-leaning states and cities…”
“Democratic
trio set to sell Obama administration’s trade agenda” reports The Hill: “A
new trade effort got a boost on Tuesday with the addition of a Democratic power
trio to sell the Obama administration’s trade agenda on Capitol Hill. Former
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, former Washington State Gov. Christine
Gregoire, and former U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk have joined the
Progressive Coalition for American Jobs…”
IMF
report flags declining unions as main factor in global inequality: “…we find
strong evidence that lower unionization is associated with an increase in top
income shares in advanced economies during the period 1980–2010 … thus
challenging preconceptions about the channels through which union density
affects income distribution.”
Progressive
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